The Hindu : Front Page : Kannada medium students suffer without textbooks

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Monday, Aug 04, 2008
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Kannada medium students suffer without textbooks

Karthik Madhavan

Left out: Students of Government-run Kannada medium high schools and higher secondary schools have suffered without textbooks for long. Their urgent requirement is textbooks in Kannada, their mother tongue.

ERODE: Plus-One and Plus-Two students of Government Higher Secondary School in Panakahalli in Thalavady Union face a peculiar problem: they study without text books.

Theirs is a Kannada medium school, meaning the students study physics, chemistry, mathematics and biology in Kannada. Their first language is Kannada and second language English.

In the absence of textbooks, the students have no choice but to depend upon the notes the teacher gives.

The teacher is no better either because he translates Tamil books to conduct classes, a difficult job. “Translating the books into Kannada is tough because we are not competent enough to translate. And, we feel the pinch when it comes to translating scientific terms,” says a teacher on conditions of anonymity.

Such has been the fate of the school and two others in the hills for long. The higher secondary school in Thalavady is worse, because ever since the Government upgraded the school as a higher secondary institution in 1978, there have been no text books. In the absence of text books, the teachers, who have had their education in Kannada, make use of books published by the Mysore University. “It is the closest we get to teach science in Kannada,” the teacher says.

The absence of text books apart, the three schools have vacancies in teaching positions as well. Take for example the Panakahalli school again.

The school has vacancy for teaching positions in physics, chemistry and English. What is worse is that the teaching position for Kannada is yet to be sanctioned.

A source in the school says they had so far managed only through parent teacher association appointments. In Chikkahalli school the head master post had been vacant for the last two years. Bachelor Teaching position in Science teachers who handle science classes for students up to Standard X has been vacant for a year now.

In Thalavady school the Kannada teacher post has remained unoccupied since June 2002. English and mathematics positions have remained vacant since this year. The problem according to the teachers is that the Government hardly calls for candidates to teach Kannada medium schools.

The irony is that the candidates are available, though. A teacher says a number of candidates eligible enough to teach in Kannada are available right in the hills.

They say they have submitted representations to the district administration and also Education Department to no avail. There are reports that the State Government is working a solution. Education Department officials said the details would be available only later.

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